Saigo wins Chevron Championship in 5-way playoff. Novak and Griffin team to take Zurich Classic

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Mao Saigo of Japan won the Chevron Championship on Sunday for her first major title, making a 3-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a five-way playoff.

Saigo birdied the par-5 18th in regulation for a 2-under 74, leaving her tied with Hyo Joo Kim, Ruoning Yin, Ariya Jutanugarn and Lindy Duncan. They finished at 7-under 281 at The Club at Carlton Woods.

Saigo won on the 18th in the playoff after Yin and Jutanugarn had birdie tries lip out. Jutanugarn bogeyed the 18th in regulation after stubbing her third shot only inches.

Saigo won for the first time on the LPGA Tour. She was the tour’s rookie of the year last season. The 23-year-old player is the first Japanese winner in the event and the fifth major champion. She has six victories on the Japanese tour, five in 2022.

Winners had been jumping into Poppie’s Pond off the 18th green at Mission Hills since 1988, and Saigo became the second to do it in Texas by leaping into the brown-tinged water. She shrieked and smiled as she went in holding hands with two members of her team.

Saigo took home $1.2 million from the $8 million purse.

AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin shot a 1-under 71 in alternate-shot play to become first-time PGA Tour winners — by one stroke — at the Zurich Classic.

They finished at 28-under 260 at the Pete Dye-designed TPC Louisiana and Novak finally broke through after a pair of top-three finishes this month — the last a playoff loss to Justin Thomas a week ago at the RBC Heritage.

Play was delayed by weather for just over 90 minutes with Novak on Griffin on the eighth hole.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry, the defending champions, were in contention through 12 holes, but fell to 12th — six shots behind — with three late bogeys.

Danish identical twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard narrowly missed out on a first PGA Tour win, finishing second after a 68.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Joaquin Niemann won LIV Golf Mexico City for his third victory in six events this season, closing with a 6-under 65 for a three-stroke margin over Bryson DeChambeau and Lucus Herbert.

Niemann finished at 16-under 197 at Club de Golf Chapultepec. The 26-year-old Chilean star also won last year in Mexico at Mayakoba. He has five LIV victories after winning twice on the PGA Tour.

Herbert tied the course record with a 61, and second-round leader DeChambeau shot 70.

Legion XIII won the team competition Captain Jon Rahm (68), Tyrrell Hatton (68), Caleb Surratt (69) and Tom McKibbin (70) combined for Legion XIII’s second victory of the season and sixth overall.

LIV Golf Korea is next week.

HAINAN ISLAND, China (AP) — Marco Penge of England closed with a 5-under 67 for a three-shot victory in Hainan Classic for his first European tour title, coming just two months after he returned from a ban for betting on golf.

The victory capped off a wild six months for Penge, which began with him narrowly keeping his European card and ended with him finishing third in the Asian Swing to earn a spot in the PGA Championship next month.

The European tour gave Penge a three-month suspension for betting on golf, though it determined he never bet on himself or on anyone in the tournaments he played. He was fined 2,000 pounds.

The 26-year-old Penge finished at 17-under 271 and held off an early charge from Sean Crocker on the front nine. Crocker fell back with too many bogeys and shot 66 to finish three back along with Kristoffer Reitan (67).

Keita Nakajima and Eugenio Chacarra also earned spots in the PGA Championship for leading the Asian swing.

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Jerry Kelly won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic for his 13th PGA Tour Champions title, birdieing two of the last four holes for a one-stroke victory over Ernie Els.

The 58-year-old Kelly, tied with Els entering the round, closed with a 5-under 67 to finish at 20-under 196 at TPC Sugarloaf. He opened with a 62 on Friday and shot 67 on Saturday.

Els birdied the last for a 68. He opened with rounds of 65 and 64.

Steven Alker was third at 16 under after a 65.

Angel Cabrera had a 68 to finish fourth at 15 under. Vijay Singh followed at 13 under after a 70.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Johnny Keefer won the Veritex Bank Championship for his first Korn Ferry Tour title, closing with a 7-under 64 for a three-stroke victory over five players

Keefer finished at 30-under 254 at Texas Rangers Golf Club. The 24-year-old former Baylor player opened with rounds of 63, 61 and 66.

Joshua Creel (61), 17-year-old Blades Brown (63), Zach James (64), Julian Suri (64) and Tyson Alexander (65) tied for second.

Takanori Konishi captured his first Japan Golf Tour title when he closed with a 3-under 67 and won the Maezawa Cup by one shot over Shugo Imahira, who bogeyed the 18th hole for a 68. ... Minsun7 Kim closed with a 3-under 69 for a five-shot victory in the Dukshin EPC Championship on the Korea LPGA. ... Briana Chacon won the IOA Championship in Beaumont, California, for her second career Epson Tour title. She closed with a 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory over Megan Schofill. ... Jay Card III won the Kia Open in Ecuador for his first PGA Tour Americas victory. Her close with a 1-under 71 to finish at 16-under 200, a stroke ahead of Ricardo Celia and Jake Staiano. ... Scott Hend won the Barbados Legends, finishing with a 7-under 64 for a two-stroke victory. The Australian won for the second time on the Legends Tour title.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Captain Joaquín Niemann, of Torque GC, hits from the first tee during the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)

Captain Joaquín Niemann, of Torque GC, hits from a bunker on the second hole during the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)

First-place individual champion captain Joaquín Niemann, center top, of Torque GC, is sprayed on the 18th green after the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Naucalpan, Mexico. (Mateo Villalba/LIV Golf via AP)

Andrew Novak hits along the 2nd fairway during the final round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ben Griffin, 18th green Andrew Novak, after winning the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament with teammate Andrew Novak at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Andrew Novak, right, embraces teammate Ben Griffin on the 18th green after they won the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Mao Saigo, of Japan, celebrates winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Mao Saigo, of Japan, holds the trophy after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Mao Saigo, of Japan, celebrates her birdie putt on the 18th green during a playoff of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Mao Saigo, of Japan, in yellow, jumps into the water after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Mao Saigo, of Japan, in yellow, prepares to dive into the water off the 18th green after winning the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Sunday, April 27, 2025, in The Woodlands, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)